Just as the clock ticks down to March 18, when the Chancellor will emerge from Number 11 Downing Street with his red dispatch box, so too are the requests increasing; from industry and lobby groups, to ministerial departments and indeed his own Conservative Party, the calls are rising for tax cuts and increased spending commitments that will ensure another five years in office.

With the British economy in rude health once again, after the catastrophic years of mismanagement by Gordon Brown and the sclerotic Labour government, it will be hard for the Chancellor to resist the temptation to loosen the purse strings.

According to EY’s Item Club forecast, economic growth this year will be in the range of 2.9pc, up from a previous prediction of 2.4pc. Lower fuel prices will by some estimates put at least another £140 into the pockets of most families in what is in itself being described as a mini-tax cut for consumers.

Growth rates touching almost 3pc will place the UK in the front rank of developed economies at a time when the outlook for many of our major competitors in Europe appears bleak. Germany, France and the rest of the dysfunctional eurozone will spend the rest of 2015 “navel-gazing” as they weigh up the financial consequences of holding together their crumbling monetary union.

Instead of having to worry about whether train drivers in Athens can receive a European Central Bank-funded pay rise, the Chancellor heads into the Budget able to focus on the job at hand.

Despite the positive outlook for the economy and the need to secure a Conservative victory in the coming election, the Chancellor should resist the political temptation to dole out giveaways when he presents the Budget next month. Such a policy would mark a return to the dark years when Gordon Brown and Alistair Darling occupied Number 11, which eventually led to the biggest increase in the UK’s deficit since the Second World War.

Reducing that deficit and completing the task of repairing Britain’s economy after the global financial crisis and wasted years of Labour blundering should remain Mr Osborne’s main priority. Recent news that in January Britain recorded its biggest monthly budget surplus since before the financial crisis is positive, but it should not detract from the hard work that will be need to get the overall deficit below £40bn.

Instead of cutting taxes, or funding giveaways, the Chancellor should arguably be looking at ways to increase revenue if he is to meet the Government’s deficit reduction targets and commitment to rein in the national debt. Tax receipts are already 3.2pc higher at £135bn this year, despite the drop in oil revenues but will this be enough to fund a Budget that will please everyone who is shaking their tin cup for more money?

In the run-up to the Budget, the Treasury is being bombarded by requests to cut taxes from every quarter. Although the 50pc slide in oil prices since June has put more money back into the pockets of UK consumers, it is crippling the North Sea oil industry. Leading industry figures such as Sir Ian Wood and the former BP chief executive, Lord Browne, have stressed the need for the Government to provide more incentives for drillers and even to make significant cuts to the basic rate of tax in the North Sea.

In a recent interview with The Daily Telegraph, Sir Ian warned that 6bn barrels of oil, worth around £200bn to the economy, could go untapped because of falling prices and high rates of tax making drilling new reserves unprofitable.

Sir Ian wants the basic rate of tax on North Sea oil to be reduced down to around 45pc to help to safeguard the future of the country’s offshore industry as our remaining oil reserves enter into the final few decades of their life.

Although the Treasury is taking these warnings seriously and has had a team working for months on what measures can be taken in the Budget to support the North Sea, Mr Osborne has little room to manoeuvre, despite the overall health of Britain’s economy.

Any cuts to oil taxes will have to be funded from other areas of the Budget as revenue from offshore has plummeted, leaving a gaping hole in public finances. Certainly, the Treasury is unlikely to have hauled in anything approaching the £6.5bn that was earned from North Sea oil taxes in the financial year ending 2013.

After promising not to increase duty on petrol and diesel in the current Parliament, Mr Osborne will have to dip into a different pot if he is to address the needs of an industry that supports 450,000 jobs across the UK.

Then there is defence. With the actions of Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin, now threatening the security of the whole of Europe and his military machine increasingly probing Britain’s airspace, cuts to the armed forces to fund either welfare or health services can no longer be an option.

The last defence review in 2010 set out a 20pc reduction in the regular Army to around 80,000 troops, to be completed by 2018. In addition, the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force have seen deep cuts that have reduced their capability to respond to an increasingly hostile power such as Russia, even now flexing its muscles in Ukraine.

The Prime Minister, David Cameron, is now coming under intense pressure to commit to maintaining defence spending at a level of 2pc of gross domestic product, but arguably it should be increased significantly in order to meet the growing threats from Russia and Islamic extremism.

However, funding the Ministry of Defence appropriately is rarely a vote- winner in the UK. Regardless of how hostile the threat to our security from overseas, or internal foes, it will be up to Mr Osborne to find a credible solution to bolster our overstretched military in the Budget which doesn’t involve taking money away from sectors such as health and education.

With just under a month to go until Mr Osborne makes what could be his final Budget speech to Parliament, it’s not just the future of this Coalition government at stake, it’s our security as well.